Friday, July 28, 2017

If you’re the kind of person who read my book and now has gone digging through
the internet to find out more, to see if buried deep beyond the first three
pages of Google you can find something else I’ve done, something else I’ve
written then it has brought you here. I assume a few things about you; one you
enjoy research, because you had to do some to find this. Two, that you love to
get more than just a story from the things you read. You want stories that
changed the way you see the world, the way you understand, stories that open
your mind through science and history. That is my favorite kind of story, but I
find they are just too far and few to satisfy me, so I’ve started to write my
own.

What I didn’t write about Sky Fall Events

This idea is best explained in the creation of the chapter headings in the
first place. As I began to

write the story, I realized that there was just too
much to explain to fully present the idea of a Sky Fall Event. It was an ocean
of exposition. I fit as much into the story as I could, but then I created the headings
as a way to provide even more information for the readers, and I could write in
a way that didn’t have to relate to the narrative directly. The headings are
matched to chapters, or set to come after certain chapters as a way to dive
deeper into ideas and explain more history and science. But as for the question
at hand.
There is a lot that was left out. I sifted through for the very best of history
and science, but there are only so many chapters in the book. The missing
pieces will be revealed in the sequel and prequel that I’m working on right
now.
As stated in the book, when the series is finished I will compile and write The
Nature of Sky Fall Events. The headings have done more than that though,
they’ve changed the way I write. I think I will make it a permanent part of my
style to use science, and historical headings to support the ideas I write
about.

What I want to Ask the Reader

What did you think of the idea of ‘Sky Fall Events’, and the presentation of
persuasion in the media in general? Will it change the way you watch the news
or read news posts and papers?

I feel my greatest weakness is my characters. What would you do to make them
better? More appealing, more memorable, more relatable?

In writing my own post, I wonder what questions I would ask and author like
myself if I were to meet them. The first is “what did you leave out?”

About the Author

Joe Bendoski studied psychology in college and was
fascinated by all the insights it provided into human behavior, only to realize
most the information never reach people, and when it did, rarely was it in a
form that allowed for practical application. He started writing non-fiction,
but soon came to understand how few people read that genre and began the
difficult transition into fiction writing. His non-fiction works include; the
Chemistry of Attraction and the Language of Emotion.

He worked as the head writer for the television show ‘Saved
by Grace.’ After being frustrated with comments like "make this scene
cheaper," "What's my motivation?", and "Do we need this
scene?" he decided to go in to literature.

His latest book is the
thriller/espionage/conspiracy/historical novel, When
the Sky Falls.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

One of the
questions all writer’s undoubtedly receive is “where do you get your
inspiration?” Sometimes there is a great lightbulb moment—a tragedy, a
blessing, a unique childhood—that breathes life into an idea. For Rebel Song, I
attribute it to a childhood obsession with tragic love stories, with fantasy
tales of kings and queens, with gallant heroes sacrificing all.

When I
describe the plot of Rebel Song to people, but tell them it’s contemporary,
they often say, “Wait, it’s about a princess and a rebellion and star-crossed
love? Sounds a little Medieval.” And it does sound like a plot of old. But it’s
also a reality of today...Let me explain a bit of history about its
inspiration.

The very
first incarnation of Rebel Song came about 22 years ago—no joke! When I was
12—possibly suffering some unrequited love of my own—I actually wrote this
short book about a princess who falls in love with a spy from another country
and she betrays her kingdom for him. In the end she jumps off a cliff and kills
herself so in retrospect it wasn’t a very uplifting story (I was a strange 12
year old, I admit). But I never forgot that tale and I’ve maintained this
affinity for the star-crossed lovers since.

So fast
forward a couple decades. I’m in Madrid, Spain, reading
about the turmoil of Spain’s 20th
century—from a monarchy to a dictator to back to a monarchy. And I realized
that, while it’s strange to the Americans, royalty is alive and well in much of
Europe. Additionally, many countries in Europe have
undergone rebellions, dictators, civil war and more in the last fifty years
alone. Sometimes there’s even a juicy love story thrown in there. I was
fascinated by the history there and I suddenly knew I had to bring Rogan and
Elyra’s story to life in a fresh new way.

And while the
story is set in “modern-day,” I admit, the specific time period for the story
is purposefully a little vague because I’m trying to avoid talking about real
world events—it’s hard to talk about 20th century Europe and not
discuss post WWII Communism, for example. I want the Rogan and Elyra’s story to
just exist within itself and for the reader to not have to think about the
outside world.

So once you
have this great novel that you love more than your own mortal soul, what do you
do with it?

After I’d
finished and perfected Rebel Song to the best of my ability, I had to learn how
to publish it! Writers today are living in the best of times. There are more
ways than ever to reach millions of hungry readers. But with more choices, it
can be daunting to decide the best way to go. I opted to Independently publish
and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. It’s a lot of work—no denying that.
As an Indie author, you’re responsible for every aspect of the process—from
finding the cover design, getting a professional editor, finding beta readers
and then doing the marketing. It was a long process, I stumbled a lot, made
some mistakes, learned a TON and was excited to do it all again.

The second
installment, Rebel Rising, is due out this September and I’m so excited to
continue the saga with my readers.

About the Author

Amanda
J. Clay is a writing YA and Adult fiction from Dallas, TX. A Northern California native, she had a fantastic
time studying English and Journalism at ChicoStateUniversity and then a very serious
time slaving away for a Master’s degree in Communications from CaliforniaStateUniversity, Fullerton. When she’s not staring at
a computer screen, she spends most of her spare time on some new fitness
addiction and plotting world adventures.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Caught on
opposite sides of a budding civil war, a rebel leader and a modern day princess
fight to save their country from a corrupt Minister General in a fictional Central Europe.

The once prosperous European nation of Arelanda
has been plagued with poverty and corruption since the failed rebellion tore it
apart. Now, rebels stir again in the capital’s underbelly, vowing to depose the
monarchy and overturn the unjust government.

Seventeen-year-old Rogan Elwood, son of a rebel
leader executed for treason after the first rebellion, has borne a tainted
legacy his entire life. As he is pulled deeper into conflict, Rogan must face
his calling in the future of the rebel cause—waging his want for peace against
his desire for vengeance. Everything changes when he falls for Elyra—modern,
idealistic and determined to bring Arelanda a better future. She also just
happens to be next in line to the throne—if the corrupt Minister General
doesn’t beat her to it.

Caught in the midst of a budding civil war and
surrounded by enemies on every side, Elyra and Rogan must fight to save
themselves and their country.

Monday, July 24, 2017

As a
psychologist and suspense novelist, I’m all about delving into the dark corners
of the heart.What does it take to
create characters that are complex, believable, fallible and interesting?Consider these five strategies.

·Give them goals.What do your characters want badly enough
to pursue in the face of all the obstacles you’re going to plant in their
way?What does your protagonist believe
her goal will bring her?It’s the quest,
usually for something illusory or unattainable, that drives our characters’
stories, protagonist and antagonist alike.

·Turn them loose.An intriguing discovery I’ve made as a
novelist – and heard from fellow writers – is how our characters surprise
us.Off they go, heading in directions
we didn’t anticipate.They seem to take
on lives of their own.The first time I
experienced this (two of my characters started having an affair I hadn’t
expected), I feared I’d lost control of the narrative.Instead, it developed into a nice plot
twist.Over time, I’ve come to welcome

unforeseen character turns, which often move the story forward in exciting
ways.

·Let them fight.Conflict is a page turner.Whether it’s a protagonist’s inner struggle
or clashes between characters, good stories thrive on the drama of
contention.Look for opportunities to
play up these moments, via climactic showdowns and simmering tensions in
between.If you write a single page
without a trace of conflict, be concerned.A whole chapter without conflict?Revise.

·Make them suffer.One of the downsides of caring about our
characters is a tendency to want to protect them.But they must get roughed up on their
journeys.I’m forced to battle my own
squeamishness (it really hurt to have my protagonist’s best friend give him a
broken nose).But pile it on we
must.Our protagonists must endure
enough adversity and anguish to turn into heroes.Readers are inspired by characters who
survive the storm.

·Have them learn.Our job is to help our protagonists grow,
in spite of themselves.They may start
out frightened, clueless, deluded or otherwise blind to what they’re
avoiding.But the arc of their
development demands they discover something about themselves, their goals or
the world that frees them from their limitations.Whether they end up triumphant or merely
sadder and wiser, their stories must feature transformation.And then we, the writers, are transformed by
telling their stories.We turn into
novelists!

About the Author

Freda Hansburg is a psychologist and Tell On You is her
debut trade thriller.She self-published
the suspense novel Shrink Rapt and co-authored two self-help books, PeopleSmart
– a best-seller translated into ten languages – and Working PeopleSmart.Freda lives in the South Carolina Lowcountry,
where she is working on her next novel and her Pickleball game.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Hello!!Thank you for having me here today.I love connecting with other writers and
readers so this is a true treat!!

I think
the question I’m asked most often is how did I get published.Or, what was my path to publication.How I wish I could tell you I was handed the
secret map and by following it step by step, it led me straight to where I
wanted to be.Alas, no.Sorry.But through my pursuit of that ever seemingly elusive goal of receiving
“The Call,” I did pick up a few tidbits of wisdom that were of

great
benefit.I hope they will help you, too!

·Write.Sounds so obvious,
right?But while many of us dream of
being a published author we fail to do the one thing we must: write.It’s not pretty or glamorous for the most
part; it’s a lot of hours sitting in front of your computer or laptop or
notepad mining for the right words.It’s
a lot of hours spent crafting a story that might never sell.Scary stuff there!But here’s the rub: if you don’t write it,
the publisher can’t come.(Terrible spin
on the Field of Dreams quote but I’m sure you get the idea.)And if your book never sells?You will still have accomplished two
incredible things: YOU WROTE A BOOK!How
awesome is that?!And two, by writing
that book, you learned so much about the writing process.

·Read.Again, sounds obvious.But reading is a key element to writing.Reading keeps your pulse on what is selling;
it also helps teach you the art of writing.What the author did right…what didn’t work as well for you.Character development.Pacing.And the list goes on and on.And
don’t just read in the genre you aspire to publish in.Read voracious.Read everything.Read fiction blockbusters, the how-to write
books.The classics.Before I sold, I read every current debut I
could get my hands on.Gobbled them up
as fast as I could.Those debut books
grabbed an agent and/or editor and sold for a reason.I wanted to know why.

·Invest in your dream.Invest not
only your time (which is extremely valuable) but also invest your hard earned
dollars.I know this bit of advice is
difficult for a lot of us moms to wrap our heads around—spend money on
ourselves even if we don’t see an immediate return—but it wasn’t until I
started doing just that that I started to see positive progress.By my taking my dream seriously enough to
spend money on it, my family began to realize just how important it was.My writing wasn’t just a fun hobby—but a
serious pursuit of a dream.Another
benefit of plunking down those dollars for a workshop or conference or how-to
book?I was going to get the biggest
bang for my buck.The notes I took were
college worthy if I do say so myself and the connections I made with other
writers just like me has been invaluable throughout the years.Also, don’t forget that there are a lot of
ways to obtain these resources for discounted rates.Many times you can volunteer at a conference
that will reduce your fees or you can buy the workshop tapes from the
conference and save the cost of travel and other costs.

·Another important step in this path to publication is to learn the value of
feedback and revisions.For this step we
need to develop a thicker skin.It’s
very easy to get attached to our “baby” and not want to hear that anything is
wrong with it, but we all know the truth: almost everything can be made better
through revisions/re-envisioning/rethinking.But (and this is a big but) chose your beta readers/critique partners
well.I count myself extremely fortunate
that I landed with three amazing writers early in my writing days.They were (and are) instrumental to my
success.

·So now that you’ve written and revised a book, honed your craft through
reading books and attending workshops and conferences, you are itching to send
it out to the world.Or at least a publishing
professional who can get your dream in front of readers.Even among my group of writer friends there
is an ongoing debate as to whether you should get an agent or not.My advice—GET AN AGENT.But like with all the steps along the way,
research, research, research to find that perfect match for you.

While this is
in no means a complete list, I hope it helps you fulfill your dream of becoming
a published author just as it did for me.And if you have tips you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to drop
me a note through my website (www.KimberlyFisk.net)
or FB (https://www.facebook.com/kimberlyfiskauthor/).Connecting with other writers and readers is
one of the best gifts this career has given me.

About the Author

A
past recipient of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award,
Kimberly Fisk is the bestselling author of Lake
Magic. She lives in the Pacific
Northwest with her husband, three children, and too many
four-legged critters to count.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

My latest
release, The Soldier’s Seduction, is a romantic suspense, and writing in that
genre is a unique balance between the love story and the thriller. It’s great
to have this chance to share my thoughts with you.

I suppose,
before I started writing romantic suspense, I had a vague idea that it was a
romance with a mystery thrown in. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Romantic
suspense stories have to give equal weight to both the romance and the
suspense. And that can be hard to get right. As an author, you have to keep the
threads of both stories entwined throughout.

Here are some
of the key ways to do it:

Get the
research right

That whole
‘writing what you know’ mantra is more important than ever in romantic
suspense. The details matter. If the killer couldn’t have fired the gun that
way, the whole plot falls apart. Police procedures, legal terms, murder
weapons…my search history is eye-popping.

Use the
setting to add tension

Setting makes
every book come alive. In romantic suspense, it does double duty. Nightfall can
evoke fear. Enclosed spaces tell us the characters are in danger. Immersion in
water or ice evokes urgency. Changing from one location to another gives a
sense of movement. Unexpected happenings in a setting can shake the reader out
their expectations. The Soldier’s Seduction starts out in a small town, but the
events take the characters on a thrilling journey.

Create
characters who are worth turning the page for

Romantic
suspense is about danger and romance happening at the same time, but none of it
is meaningful if we don’t care about the characters. That means investing in
villains as well as heroes and heroines.

In “Seven
Secrets of Romantic Suspense” Lisa Gardner says:

·Every character (including the villain) should have a goal and something
personal at stake in the conflict.

·Every character should have a few key strengths that mold and form them.

·Every character should have some vulnerability.

·Every character should have their own moral code, the things they will and
will not do.

Start dramatic,
then there should be lots of twists and turns along the way with the end always
appearing to be in doubt.

Sexual
tension

Sexual tension
adds to a mystery story. It complicates the plot—there’s nothing simple about
love and lust. Sex makes people vulnerable and in a suspense story, the
character can’t afford to be vulnerable. As danger mounts, so does desire. As
the future becomes more uncertain, the need for personal connection becomes
heightened. In The Soldier’s Seduction, Bryce and Steffi (if that’s really her
name…) have some very steamy encounters!

Give
glimpses of hope

We need to have
doubt and fear in the story. But there needs to be a glimmer of light at the
end of the tunnel. Harsh setbacks should be followed by fresh ideas and new
plans for attack. The hero and heroine can feel cornered, afraid, and
overwhelmed, but they should never feel hopeless.

A happy
ending

Romance readers
know what they want. A happy ending is not a formula, it’s an expectation.
Readers have raced at to the finish line, now they need a celebration. They
need a big ending, one that ties up all the loose ends. Then they need to see
the hero and heroine being happy.After
all the torture they’ve been through, we all need a little warm glow before we
turn the final page.

Bryce and
Steffi were two of the most tortured characters I’ve ever written. Giving them
their happy ending was sooo satisfying!

I love writing
romantic suspense…torturing my characters until the final page! I hope you
enjoy the twists and turns of both the mystery and the love story of The
Soldier’s Seduction and the other stories that are coming soon in the Sons of
Stillwater series.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

From
the front lines to unexpected romance—and danger—in small-town Wyoming

After
a war zone bomb nearly destroyed Bryce Delaney, he’s worked hard to hide his
scars. Back in his Wyoming
hometown, he can pretend the nightmares don’t exist. But when a secretive,
beautiful new woman in town disappears, Bryce’s protective instincts put him on
the front lines again.

Wanted
for murder and on the run under an alias, former A-list actress Steffi Grantham
can’t return to her life until she clears her name. It’s her boss, Bryce, to
the rescue, but desire ties them together, and she’s forced to make a choice
that could cost them both. Trusting the wrong man once before almost stole her
freedom. Now it might take her life.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Rejection and being an author
go hand in hand. Fiction is very subjective so what one person may like,
another may hate. I have had two novels published, one by the indie press, New
Pulp Press, and the other by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s; but before that,
I had three novels rejected over the course of a few years and a lot of
rejections from agents before I landed with Sam Hiyate of The Rights Factory.
There were many times I thought I wouldn’t make it as an author, but I’m
stubbornly determined and driven, and I used the rejections to make my writing
better so I wouldn’t be rejected the next time.

The first set of rejections
came from literary magazines until a few finally hit. Lit mags are a very smart
way to start as a career as an author, since agents and editors and publishers
will want to see some type of publications on your Writing Resume. It is
guaranteed that more magazines will say no as opposed to yes. However, once one
magazine accepts your work, you have a greater chance of getting another to
bite, since you are beginning to establish yourself. The idea that you will be
published in The New Yorker automatically will not happen, so
forget about that. Begin with online journals and don’t worry about not getting
paid, the exposure, even if it’s small, is better than a check.

The same goes for agents. Most
agents will reject you because they are flooded with submissions. They also
want to shape a writer’s career so they want to believe in you rather than just
your one book. Have a follow up ready. More importantly, take the advice that
they give if you’re lucky to get notes. My agent liked the book I initially
sent him, but had a lot of revisions before he could sign me on. I listened to
everything he said.

Editors are even trickier. An
editor can love the book that an agent sends and then try to pitch it within
his imprint and no one else bites. This had happened to me many times. They
want to fall in love with your characters so other editors and their boss will
fall in love with them too. There were moments I wanted to give up, but with
every rejection I rewrote and edited the manuscript and also moved on to other
projects as well. If you are writing a book and trying to sell it for ten years
without any interest, it’s time to write a new one.

Finally, don’t let rejection
get you down. I look at all the no’s I got now as evidence that I wasn’t ready
to be published at the time and I needed to hone my work more. You only need
one yes, so even though one day might deliver a flood of rejections to your
inbox, the next day could bring that acceptance you’ve been waiting for.

About the Author

Lee Matthew Goldberg’s novel THE
MENTOR is forthcoming from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press in June
2017 and has been acquired by Macmillan Entertainment. The French edition will
be published by Editions Hugo. His debut novel SLOW DOWN is out now. His pilot
JOIN US was a finalist in Script Pipeline’s TV Writing Competition. After graduating
with an MFA from the New School,
his fiction has also appeared in The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, Verdad Magazine,BlazeVOX, and
others. He is the co-curator of The
Guerrilla Lit Reading Series. He lives in New York
City.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Kyle
Broder has achieved his lifelong dream and is an editor at a major publishing
house.

When
Kyle is contacted by his favorite college professor, William Lansing, Kyle
couldn’t be happier. Kyle has his mentor over for dinner to catch up and
introduce him to his girlfriend, Jamie, and the three have a great time. When
William mentions that he’s been writing a novel, Kyle is overjoyed. He would
love to read the opus his mentor has toiled over.

Until
the novel turns out to be not only horribly written, but the most depraved
story Kyle has read.

After
Kyle politely rejects the novel, William becomes obsessed, causing trouble
between Kyle and Jamie, threatening Kyle’s career, and even his life. As Kyle
delves into more of this psychopath’s work, it begins to resemble a cold case
from his college town, when a girl went missing. William’s work is looking
increasingly like a true crime confession.

Lee
Matthew Goldberg's The Mentor is a twisty, nail-biting thriller that
explores how the love of words can lead to a deadly obsession with the fate of
all those connected and hanging in the balance.

PRAISE FOR THE MENTOR:

From Booklist - A junior editor at a Manhattan publisher reunites with his college mentor with
disastrous results in Goldberg's second thriller (after Slow Down, 2015).
Kyle Broder has just acquired a probable best-seller for Burke &amp; Burke
publishing when he hears from his former literature professor, William Lansing,
who pitches the still-unfinished opus he’s been working on for 10 years. Lansing’s book is not only badly written, it’s also
disturbing, featuring a narrator literally eating the heart of the woman he
loves. Lansing turns vengeful when his "masterpiece" is
rejected, but Broder’s concerns about his mentor are dismissed both at home and
at work: Broder’s girlfriend considers Lansing charming, and a rival editor feigns interest in Lansing’s book. Broder revisits his college and delves more
deeply into the cold case of a missing ex-girlfriend, and as the plot darkens
and spirals downward, it’s unclear who will be left standing. The compelling
plot is likely to carry readers with a high enough tolerance for gore to the
final twist at the end.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

If
someone asked me what I would rather have happen – a solid punch to the
gut or a glimpse into the mind of someone who was judging me, I would
gladly
accept the punch to the gut. Physical pain can be handled and forgotten
but the emotional pain that

comes from hearing negative words, even
from a stranger, is devastating and long lasting. The bruise to your
psyche you experience from some well positioned
hate words will last well beyond any physical bruise you receive. Did
you ever notice, that our brains have a funny way of cycling these
negative words on a never ending hamster wheel within our minds, often
keeping them just below the surface until you least
expect it. Words have the ability to cut a person, deeply. The hardest
thing about these cuts is that they are invisible to the naked eye,
because cuts made by words do not show to the outside world, they
settle somewhere else. They settle on your confidence,
make their home on your happiness and eat away at your ability to
believe in yourself.

All
of those hamster wheels of negativity are spinning at warp speed in my
mind right now. This is my very first blog post. Ever. Which means I am
currently
thinking of a thousand reasons why I may fail at this new venture. What
I am beginning to realize however, is that among all the negative “what
ifs” there is one positive “I can” that I am latching onto with all of
my might. Life’s a bumpy, chaotic road that
none of us have a map to. When you think about it, we are all in this
together trying to stumble through with our best foot forwards most of
the time but at the end of the day, no one, not even the most powerful
person on this chunk of space rock, has any
idea what the future holds! Really puts your problems into perspective
doesn’t it my friends? I am trying to grow personally and professionally
everyday, to surround myself with people who believe in the same
positive message that I am trying to pass on –
that you and you alone have control over the choices you make at each
of the crossroads you come to in life. You can choose to move forwards
and pursue your happiness, or stay static choosing the happiness of
others over your own. Sounds like a pretty common
sense message doesn’t it? You see, I believe that the things that
happen to us are not what make us special, they do not define who we
are. Instead, it is the choices we make at each of our crossroads and
how we choose to handle what life throws at us that
defines who we are. Everyone has gone through something terrible in
their lives and trying to compare your awful to theirs is a defeating
exercise that will only result in hurt egos and feelings. We need to
come together and realize that we are all stumbling
through this playbook called life as blindly as our neighbors and could
probably use a little help along the way.

My
life has been dedicated to believing that I had to have the answer to
everything, know how every scenario was going to play out. I spent my
life putting
others happiness before my own to the point that I created an image of
myself that I put on display to everyone while simultaneously burying my
real true self. This was so self destructive that I was causing a
critical piece of who I was to slowly die and
I didn’t even realize it. I chose things at the crossroads of my life
that made the people around me, my family and friends, happy. Why you
ask? Perhaps you should turn that question around on yourself my
friends. Have you ever put someone else’s happiness
before your own? If so, why? What was the reason for putting your
choices on the back burner and allowing someone else to decide your path
down that crossroads? Take a moment and comment below. Tell me your
story, share the decisions you have made at your
crossroads. Who knows, maybe you will see a new direction, a new road,
that you never knew existed that just might be the path you were meant
to walk on.

About the Author

Welcome to EJ’s real, crazy,
emotional, probably too honest journey. She is an everyday girl in this
everyday world trying to keep her head above water. Within the pages of this
book you will learn about the things that have broken EJ down and the
steps she is taking to build back up. You will see, that this story is written
in a unique, general, conversational voice, which was her choice. She wants you
to be able to picture yourself in her shoes, relate her trials and tribulations
to yours and see that you too can find your happiness. Even if you don’t
realize this yet, every single one of us possesses things inside of ourselves
that we didn't know were there. It took EJ’s life taking a crazy right turn and
dumping her at the lowest possible point before she could see the strength
within herself. We are not defined by what we do, we are defined by the choices
we make. EJ decided when she put pen to paper that she wanted her choices to
start defining her as strong, confident, secure and above all else, happy. So,
who am EJ? How about who she was - a self-loathing shell who put everyone
else’s happiness before her own. Herein lies a story about finding that
happiness and all of the ups and downs along the way. See who EJ was and who
she is trying to become and maybe, somewhere in there, you will find out a
little about yourself too.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

I’ve been a volunteer at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas for 20
years, working in the PACU, the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. To the
layman, that’s the Day Surgery Recovery Room.

I attended several lecture given by a heart surgeon at Children’s
named Kristine Guleserian, and each

time I was impressed by the doctor’s
humor and warmth, but also the intense intellectual honesty she brought
to her work, and her feelings about her work.

I would see her around the hospital, and we’d chat about baseball as
we were both big fans. And then I began to hear more and more stories
from other people about things that Dr. G, as she’s known, had done for
her patients after their surgeries. So, I decided to take a flyer.

I walked into her office one day and said, “How’d you like to do a book with me?”

“What about?” she asked.

“About you.”

“Nobody wants to read about me.”

“Everybody wants to read about you. They just don’t know it yet.”

Dr. G thought for about ten seconds and then said simply, “Why not.” Seven years later, we had a book.

In that intervening time, I spent many hours as her shadow. In the
OR, in patient consultations, on rounds and more. I saw what I later
would describe as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary skill set.
She’s only five feet tall, but as they say in sports, she plays six foot
two. She stands on a small stool when she’s operating, and I’ve seen
her stand on that stool for 16 hours straight, with no breaks for water,
food, the bathroom… nothing.

Once, after a ten-hour double lung transplant, somebody in the OR
noticed she was wearing four-inch Prada heels. They asked her how she
could stand that long in those shoes.

“Simple,” she replied. “If you can’t operate in heels, you can’t operate.”

How could you not want to write about someone like that?

About the Author

Mark Oristano has been a professional writer/journalist since the age of 16.

After growing up in suburban New York,
Oristano moved to Texas in 1970
to attend Texas Christian
University. A major in Mass
Communications, Mark was hired by WFAA-TV in 1973 as a sports reporter, the
start of a 30-year career covering the NFL and professional sports.

Mark has worked with notable broadcasters including Verne Lundquist, Oprah
Winfrey and as a sportscaster for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network and Houston
Oilers Radio Network. He has covered Super Bowls and other major sports
events throughout his career. He was part of Ron Chapman’s legendary
morning show on KVIL-FM in Dallas
for nearly 20 years.

In 2002 Oristano left broadcasting to pursue his creative interests,
starting a portrait photography business and becoming involved in theater
including summer productions with Shakespeare Dallas. He follows his daughter
Stacey’s film career who has appeared in such shows as Friday Night Lights and Bunheads.

A veteran stage actor in Dallas, Mark Oristano was writer and performer for
the acclaimed one-man show “And Crown Thy Good: A True Story of 9/11.”

Oristano authored his first book, A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football:
Decoding America’s
Favorite Game.A Sportcaster’s Guide offers inside
tips about how to watch football, including stories from Oristano’s 30-year NFL
career, a look at offense, defense and special teams, and cool things to say
during the game to sound like a real fan.

In 2016 Oristano finished his second book, Surgeon’s Story, a true
story about a surgeon that takes readers inside the operating room during open
heart surgery. His second book is described as a story of dedication, talent,
training, caring, resilience, guts and love.

In 1997, Mark began volunteering at Children’s Medical
Center in Dallas,
working in the day surgery recovery room. It was at Children’s that Mark
got to know Kristine Guleserian, MD, first to discuss baseball, and later, to
learn about the physiology, biology, and mystery of the human heart. That
friendship led to a joint book project, Surgeon’s Story, about Kristine’s
life and career.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Genevieve Crownson graduated from the College of Charleston with a
Bachelors of Science degree. A love of writing led her to pen her debut novel, The
Soul of the Sun, book one in her highly anticipated trilogy, The Argos
Dynasty. She currently lives in beautiful Charleston, SC with her family
and beloved four legged friends. Go to www.genevievecrownson.com
to learn how to get FREE books, behind the scenes sneak peaks, special offers
and other fun goodies!

Emma Diamond is still
reeling from the shocking revelation she’s been given an extraordinary ability
meant to save humanity, when everything she knows and loves begins to
unravel.

Caught in a vicious snare of
secrets and lies, Emma’s only hope is to find a mysterious ring believed to
hold a centuries old power so formidable it could destroy a person with a
single touch.

When an unseen assailant
targets Emma, it sets in motion a change of events so terrible the world is
thrown into a tsunami of destruction. Can Emma repair the damage without
irrevocably altering earth and changing the past forever?

The Power of Alchemy is the
second book in the Argos Dynasty trilogy, a young adult paranormal fantasy. If
you like Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instrument series, then you’ll love this
fast-paced, captivating blockbuster that leaves you wanting more.